The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a photographing apparatus and method in which a part of an image to be photographed is set to be a detection area and photographing is automatically performed by detecting a change of an object so that a dynamic change of the object may be easily photographed.
Photographing apparatuses such as digital cameras or digital camcorders are apparatuses to convert light reflected from an object to an electric signal, store image data in a storage medium, and process or reproduce the stored image data. The digital camera may directly monitor an image of the photographed object without a complicated film development/printing process performed in a film camera. Also, since the image may be easily edited and processed by using a digital medium, the digital camera is rapidly replacing film cameras.
The photographing apparatus performs photoelectric conversion of an image light formed by an optical system including a lens into an electric signal by using a photoelectric conversion device such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device. Then, a predetermined image process is performed to the photoelectric converted image signal so that a still image or a motion picture may be output.
Recently, the digital camera has been equipped with a variety of convenient functions, such as automatic detecting and photographing of a face of a person or automatic detecting and photographing of a smiling face. Also, to facilitate use of a digital camera by a user, a variety of modes having a preset exposure or aperture value according to various photographing situations, for example, a landscape mode, a portrait mode, a night scene mode, and a sports activity mode, are provided.
However, the photographing apparatus such as the digital camera may not be able to freely photograph an object in response to a variety of special situations. For example, a user of a digital camera may want to photograph an object, like insects or birds, that move from time to time, or a scene of runners at a starting position, or a scene of blowing out candles at a birthday party. Even when the user of a digital camera has prepared for the special scene by setting the digital camera suitable for each scene to photograph a desired scene, the user may perform photography by pressing a shutter at a time when the object abruptly moves. That is, the user's fast reaction or photography techniques are required to capture the motion of the object that continuously moves.